title: Transcriptome divergence and the loss of plasticity in Bacillus subtilis after 6,000 generations of evolution under relaxed selection for sporulation.
abstract: We used microarrays to identify the causes of sporulation deficiencies in Bacillus subtilis after 6,000 generations of evolution. We found that sporulation loss did not result from large-scale deletions; therefore, it must have resulted from smaller indels and/or substitutions. Transcription patterns of one strain versus its ancestor showed that sporulation was not initiated and suggested that sporulation loss may be part of an overall decline in plasticity.
authors.affiliation: Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona 85721, USA.
authors.forename: Heather
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Maughan
authors.forename: C William
authors.initials: CW
authors.lastname: Birky
authors.forename: Wayne L
authors.initials: WL
authors.lastname: Nicholson
mesh_terms: D001412:Bacillus subtilis / Q000235:genetics* / Q000502:physiology; D017931:DNA Primers; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000235:genetics; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D017353:Gene Deletion; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D014644:Genetic Variation; D020411:Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D020641:Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide; D012641:Selection, Genetic; D017384:Sequence Deletion; D013171:Spores, Bacterial / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D017931:DNA Primers; D004269:DNA, Bacterial